Aquarium Fan Review

Jebo (small one) - very noisy since day one. Powerful? Well, I can accept it but as it becomes older, it's so noisy that I have to send it for retirement permanently after several attempts to clean & oil it.



Jebo (twin fans) - very quiet compare with the single fan one. I find it not powerful and getting worse as it gets old. I have 2 of these. After several years....1st set got a damaged fan (meaning only 1 of the twin fans is working). 2nd set is working but totally not powerful.
Ista (small one) - Very powerful - will beat Jebo anytime. Very noisy...it's very obvious at night.


Mr. Aqua Super Tornado Cooling Fan - In terms of noise level, this is the best option so far - very quiet indeed. It's so quiet that I thought it was not turned on. It's not as powerful as Ista's but in comparison with Jebo's, it's very good. It's rather bulky and heavy though.



Dymax fan - I was told by the LFS that the quality is uncertain. It may last only 3-4 months if you're unlucky. I did not bother to check it out after hearing such comment from the LFS.

I have tried another fans which I cannot remember the brand - it is white colour and the box has Japanese words. It is totally not powerful at all.

Useful Simple Techniques In Aquascaping

Some simple useful techniques used in aquascaping and fish keeping:

1. Before pouring water, place a clean plastic bag or even the plastic bag of aquarium soil to cover your plants and soil. Pour the water onto the bag to avoid messing up the new plants and soil.

2. Create a slope that is higher at the back and lower at the foreground to create depth.

3. To prevent landslide, use rocks to block the soil.

4. Cheaper way of creating a higher slope at the back of the tank is by using lava rocks underneath - save the cost of aquarium soil.

5. Since most of us don't use any hood for the planted tanks to prevent heat being trapped in the tank leading to higher temperature (not good for the plants), if you have jumpy fish, place cards (old credit cards, points collection cards, etc), the green dishwasher pads, etc to cover up 4 corners of the tank to reduce suicidal cases of fishes. Not proven with Hatchet fish though.

6. Cannot find driftwood of the shape you want? Use aluminium wire tied to a driftwood to create fake branches. Cover the aluminium wire with black filter wool tied to the aluminium wire to cover up the wire. You may tied some moss over the fake branches after that. Don't over do it! Otherwise the tank will look very unnatural.

7. Algae growing on plants? Turn off your filter. You can try shooting Seachem Excel onto the affected areas with a shringe and leave it for about 30 minutes before turning on the filter again. Some sensitive plants will die as well. I have done that with Cryptocoryne wendtii, Anubias nana and Echinodorus tenellus. Don't try it on Vallisneria sp. Very useful to fight BBA.

Beware of Highway Con Men

When driving at Federal Highway, beware of some Indian men offering to help if your car breaks down. One of them is around late 40s/early 50s and another one is late 30s/early 40s.

Here's my first hand encounter. 1 motorcyclist passing by pointing at my tyre. 2nd bike (Indian man) passing by also pointing at my tyre. I came down from my car and saw my tyre full of pink coloured oil with some smoke. 2 Indian men on a bike offered to help. When trying to drive the car, I realised the brake was not working. Thinking it's a minor issue, I let them help. They took the tyre out saying the brake disc needed to be sent to the workshop to be checked. The partially bald Indian guy stayed back with me. The younger one went to the workshop. I received a call via the handphone of the bald Indian man from a Chinese lady asking for my car model in order to get the right replacement part. The younger Indian guy came back with the parts and the bill was over RM1900. They asked me to pay on the spot with additional workmanship cost. I had not enough cash and no ATM card. I paid them RM100 after some argument. They left and left behind a handphone number for me to contact them if I wanted to pay up. The phone number is 016-9192917 (owner is VJ/Dewa/a complicated Indian name). I sent the car to my personal mechanic. My mechanic told me it was a con job and the car replacement part was not so costly - I was the second victim among his customers. The first victim encountered the same scenerio.

The bald man told me his name was Suresh. The younger one he said was Dewa but when I asked the younger guy for his name, he gave me a complicated Indian name. Then he shortened it to VJ. I believe no real names were revealed. The workshop's receipt was in Segambut but it took less than 30 minutes for the younger guy to reach back Federal Highway (near Mid Valley) - this is fishy. I think this is a con job collaborated among Indians and Chinese.

After sitting down to analyse the Indian men, I realised there are a lot of fishy matters about them. The bald guy told me they worked with Petronas but later in the conversation he switched to Shell. So I asked him whether it's Shell or Petronas. He said his Chinese boss owned Petronas and Shell gas/petrol station.

Fishy Issue # 1: Neither of them were wearing Petronas or Shell uniform.

Fishy item #2: If I were a big boss of Shell or Petronas, I would kick the hell out of their Chinese boss for collaborating with the competitor.

Fishy item #3: I don't think there's any Chinese owning Petronas gas station.

They don't dare to accept cheque and online banking transfer. They only dare to accept cash, so they cannot be traced.

The con men probably took my original brake disc for trade in and got the re-con one for me.

The men claimed they're originated from Penang island but working in Brickfields and stayed in Bangsar. Now I am looking out for any suspicious looking Indian men around me in case they come for revenge...